As part of his crusade over government “weaponization,” Rep. Jim Jordan hasn’t had the best of luck. It was just a couple of months ago, for example, when the Ohio Republican pointed to FBI “whistleblowers” who weren’t actually whistleblowers, and who’d given behind-the-scenes testimony that was literally unbelievable.
This week, the far-right congressman’s troubles got noticeably worse. The New York Times reported overnight:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has revoked the security clearances of three agents who either took part in the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, or later expressed views about it that placed into question their “allegiance to the United States,” the bureau said on Wednesday in a letter to congressional investigators.
And what, pray tell, does this have to do with Jordan? As it turns out, the House Judiciary Committee’s panel on government “weaponization” is holding a hearing this morning, and members are hearing from two FBI agents: Marcus Allen and Stephen Friend.
Allen and Friend are two of the agents whose security clearances were revoked in response to alleged misconduct. According to the Times’ account, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, they’ve also been suspended by the bureau as the FBI reviews their cases.
A third agent, Brett Gloss, received the same punishment after the FBI determined that he broke the law by entering a restricted area of the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 while moving with the pro-Trump mob. Investigators concluded that Gloss provided “false and/or misleading information” about what he saw the day of the insurrectionist attack.
As for Jordan’s witnesses, Allen was found to have had “expressed sympathy for persons or organizations that advocate, threaten or use force or violence,” promoted conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 violence, and misled a colleague about a Jan. 6 suspect.
Friend, meanwhile, was apparently punished after refusing to participate in the arrest of a Jan. 6 suspect. According to a Washington Post report, bureau investigators also concluded that Friend “presented a number of security concerns related to his personal conduct, handling of protected information and ‘use of information technology.’”
When Jordan talks about his allied “whistleblowers” from within the FBI, who are eager to bolster his conspiracy theories about government agencies mistreating poor conservative victims, these are some of the folks he’s referring to.
As for the fact at least some of his alleged “whistleblowers” have also received financial support from a top Trump ally, the beleaguered committee chairman insisted Thursday morning that this shouldn’t undermine their credibility.
No, of course not. Heaven forbid.
A Politico report last month quoted a GOP aide who conceded that on Capitol Hill, Republicans agree that Jordan’s “weaponization” panel was off to a “rocky start.”
As these latest developments help prove, the hapless partisan crusade is not improving.
